Singapore minister presents tabla performance

Singapore, June 19: Singapore's Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan staged his maiden tabla performance at the Victoria Concert Hall here after 18 months of training.

Mr Khaw, a Singaporean Chinese, said he was fascinated by traditional Asian music and took tabla lessons for fun.

He said he had put in a lot of effort over the last 18 months before giving a public performance, which was part of the Taal Express, a showcase of traditional Indian music which featured 35 musicians from Singapore and Malaysia.

Speaking to reporters after his performance yesterday, Mr Khaw said he was also fascinated by Chinese art and gamelan, a genre of Indonesian percussions.

''It's through music you get to know ... the community, and along the way at the basic level, you get to know friends. Through gamelan, I got to know quite a number of Malay friends and through tabla, I got to know many Indian friends, and that certainly enriched my own life,'' Channel News Asia quoted the minister as saying.

UNI